More than half of last year's graduates worked in high-skilled jobs such as scientists and engineers Photograph: Alamy

We're told that we're in an economic recovery, which must mean better job prospects for graduates. But then out comes the Office of National Statistics (ONS) with their annual report on the graduate job market, which tells us, apparently, that 47% of recent graduates are in non-graduatejobs. Is the light at the end of the tunnel just the light of an oncoming train? And what does this mean for graduate job seekers?

Here's the first big caveat. By "graduate" the ONS means everyone with a qualification above A-levels, from higher national diplomas right up to doctorates. So don't read the headlines and assume they mean people with a BA or BSc although, confusingly, some parts of the report do that anyway.

It's also important to stress that this only covers people who are not enrolled in education. This does make some of the data for younger graduates a bit tricky as many of them continue as postgraduates – but the ONS make this clear.

Overall the findings aren't that bad. The report gives us hard data to show that recent graduates – defined as those who left full-time education in the last five years – are more likely to have jobs (87% of graduates had jobs) and are less likely to be unemployed. Some 4% of graduates were unemployed – this figure rose to 5% for people with A-level or equivalents, and 8% for people with lower qualifications.

It also shows that graduates are much more likely to have a high-skilled job and earn more. 52% of graduates were in high-skilled jobs, such as managers, scientists and engineers, as opposed to 11% of non-graduates. Another 26% of graduates were in upper-middle skilled jobs, such as marketing, finance and HR. 31% of those without degrees were in upper-middle skilled roles, but they tended to be in skilled trade jobs, such as carpenters, plumbers and electricians.

As to salaries, 25-year-old graduates earned on average £23,677 a year. The next best paid group is apprentices who earned £22,679. But by the age of 30, this gap increases: the graduate then averaged £31,040, while the apprenticeship holder was at £24,650. And that gap keeps widening. The data shows that graduates' earnings peaked later in life and their earnings dropped off more on retirement than people who did not go to university – so unless you've built up good savings, graduates may find retirement a bit of a shock.

In fact, the data suggests that median graduate salaries peak in late 40s or early 50s at about £36,000. Apart from making me really worry about my retirement plans, this tells us that a degree can earn you a comfortable living. But you probably won't get rich unless you're in a certain very narrow range of professions and even then it'll take a while to get to that level. It also has some implications for things like the long-term national cost of housing, but this is a careers blog so I will leave those questions as exercises for the reader.

Unsurprisingly, the report also shows that the amount a graduate earns varies according to the subject they studied. Holders of medical degrees topped the tree at an average of £45,604, with engineers next on £42,016. But graduates with qualifications in the arts and media earned, on average, less than £22,000 – although these figures don't include the self-employed, who are rather more common in the arts than most other fields.

According to the data, if you want to maximise your chances of getting a job and don't want to be a doctor or a nurse, then you might want to think about a media studies degree. Although, you are more likely to earn less if you do so.

But what about that non-graduate jobs figure? It's slightly problematic for a range of reasons. It covers all higher education qualification levels, not just undergraduate degrees. It does not cover people who are not in the jobs market, most notably anyone still in education.

It is also worth mentioning that there was a significant methodological change in 2011 to how occupations were classified. This may have contributed to a change in the reported rate of underemployment.

Ultimately, this report tells us that we can't guarantee that graduates will get a good career. But on the whole, graduates tend to get skilled jobs in the end and earn reasonably good salaries. The recession has made things tougher for recent graduates, but there is evidence that things are getting modestly better.

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